Ethiopia Trip One

We've been back from Ethiopia for one week now - feels like 3, but it's only been one!  I have yet to get back to my regular sleep cycle, but considering it's nearly 9:00 p.m. and I'm still wide awake, tonight might be the night!

We are still processing all that we saw and experienced in Ethiopia - our daughter's home!  The best part of the trip, of course, was spending time with our daughter.  We got to visit with her four times, for varying lengths of time each visit.  She was hesitant with us at first, but by the end of the third visit, we had her waving, clapping, giving hi-fives, playing peek-a-boo, and giving hugs.  It brought our hearts SO MUCH joy to see her smile, finally!!  She is SO VERY beautiful.  I can't show her face in pictures until after we have cleared Embassy, so you'll just have to take my word for it.  She has dimples and her smile takes my breath away!!  Here is a sneak preview . . .

What happens now? Now our agency works diligently and hopefully VERY VERY quickly to get us ready to be submitted to Embassy. This can take anywhere from 1-3 months. Then, the Embassy does their investigation and starts working on more paperwork. This could be an additional 1-6 months. Once we are cleared, we will be able to go back and pick up our daughter and bring her to her new home!!  I know, I realize that there is a large discrepancy between 2-9 months before we can return to Ethiopia, but it seems to be taking other families adopting through our same agency from Ethiopia about 4 months between the two trips. I am going to estimate 5 months for us so that I can be pleasantly surprised if it happens sooner. That puts us bringing her home in early May - spring - great time to add to a family!

More info to come... Stay tuned!!